SEMA eNews Vol. 14, No. 12, March 24, 2011

Learn More, Earn More With SEMA Education Institute

SEMA Member News—March/April 2011

The Industry’s One-Stop Shop for Personal and Professional Development

SEMA partners with subject-matter experts, professional educators and leaders from the industry to facilitate top-notch educational programs. The association offers a number of opportunities for all levels of experience and job functions.

Today’s business environment is changing quickly. Training and information are essential to a company’s success. Realizing this several years ago, the SEMA Board of Directors created the SEMA Education Institute (SEI) as a strategic commitment to meet the industry’s need for personal training and professional development.

“We continuously monitor the needs of our members and their markets to identify what challenges the industry is facing,” said Tom Myroniak, vice president of marketing and member services. “Additionally, we are always on the lookout for emerging trends and technology so that we can keep the industry well-informed.”

The association also recognizes the need for access to quality education and training developed specifically for the specialty-equipment industry.

“SEMA partners with subject-matter experts, professional educators and leaders from our industry to bring top-notch educational programs,” said Jamie Eriksen, the association’s education director. “The association offers a number of opportunities for all levels of experience and job functions.”

Within the network of opportunities offered by SEMA are both online and live presentations that improve employee abilities, teach the latest in business techniques and empower businesses to succeed. A trio of programs forms the basis of these efforts.

SEMA offers bimonthly webinars—online classes that can be taken anywhere there is access to a computer and phone. The brief, one-hour sessions cover everything from online marketing strategies and customer service to sales solutions and industry trends. Any SEMA-member employee may participate live, which includes the ability to ask the presenter questions. The employee can also download a recorded session from the association’s webinar archives to listen to at his or her convenience. This service is free to SEMA members. Visit www.SEMA.org/webinar for a complete schedule of upcoming sessions and to access the webinar archive.

The association also offers numerous live educational events at a range of facilities. For instance, SEMA produces the Business Technology Symposium (typically held in July in Southern California), the SEMA Online Marketing Conference (held in conjunction with the SEMA Show) and SEMA Education Days (more than 80 live sessions held during the SEMA Show). Additionally, SEMA works with its councils to host sessions at various industry events across the country. To find out more, visit www.SEMA.org/events.

SEMA has also worked with professional content developers to create courses specific to the automotive specialty-equipment industry, such as “Introduction to Sales” and “Understanding Customer Attitudes.” And the association has been working in concert with content experts to offer an Automotive Technology Series that will provide training on camshafts and lifters, carburetion and modern overhead-cam V8 engines, among other topics. SEMA plans to roll out this extensive course using social media in the near future.

“Over the next year, our goal is to work toward creating online learning tracks that will address different needs and challenges,” said Eriksen. “We’ve recently launched a new Learning Management System (LMS) that will be more user-friendly and will enable participants to track their own progress.”

SEI exists to provide the industry with top-notch education, training and information that are designed to help people in the industry succeed, as illustrated in the SEI motto: “Learn More. Earn More.” For additional information, visit www.SEMA.org/SEI or call 909/978-6655.